What DPhi Space does

DPhi Space SA, founded as an EPFL spinoff and headquartered at EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne, Switzerland, operates a shared-satellite hosted payload platform branded Clustergate. The company's core technology aggregates multiple third-party hardware and software payloads onto a single satellite bus, connecting them to onboard heterogeneous compute (Arm Cortex-A53 CPU, NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX GPU at 175 TOPS, Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGA) with terabytes of storage and gigabit connectivity. The platform supports Docker-containerized software deployment, including 100+ pre-loaded images (PyTorch L4T CUDA, Ultralytics YOLO-11, LLaVA 7.2B), enabling AI inference and real-time data analytics directly in orbit without ground transmission. DPhi has flown two demonstration missions to date — Clustergate-1 aboard D-Orbit's ION Satellite Carrier in March 2025 and Clustergate-2 aboard Momentus' Vigoride 7 on SpaceX Transporter-16 in March 2026 — and is planning OmniSat, a production-class satellite targeting late 2027.

The company generates revenue through four streams: (1) one-time per-mission hardware payload hosting fees; (2) usage-based compute-as-a-service pricing on Clustergate-2 (CPU/FPGA/GPU hours, data upload/download, storage) with public five-tier pricing denominated in CHF (Tier 0 pay-as-you-go through Tier 4 custom enterprise contracts); (3) revenue sharing with launch partner Momentus for edge-computing payloads; and (4) professional services including engineering model days and engineering hours for customer integration and mission support. DPhi employs a hybrid go-to-market motion combining a self-serve product-led growth platform (software.dphispace.com with public pricing, documentation, and waitlist) with direct enterprise sales led by the CEO for satellite operators, research institutions, and government/defense customers (including U.S. government missions via Momentus).

DPhi has raised approximately CHF 2.25 million in total funding (a CHF 150,000 Venture Kick grant in March 2024 plus a CHF 2.1M pre-seed round in February 2025 led by QBIT Capital with Zurich Cantonal Bank, Apprecia Capital, and Kickfund) and employs approximately 8 people as of February 2026. Named customers and partners include Revolv Space (SARA solar array in-orbit demo on Clustergate-1), Tilebox / The Compression Company (GPU-accelerated data compression workflows on Clustergate-2), Liquid AI (first in-space LLM inference demonstration), EDGX (NVIDIA GPU supplier), D-Orbit (launch partner), and Momentus (launch, U.S. government access, revenue sharing).

Name

DPhi Space

Legal name

DPhi Space SA

Website

https://dphispace.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DPhi Space is an EPFL spinoff that operates Clustergate, a shared satellite hosted payload platform providing in-orbit AI compute and hardware hosting for hardware developers, AI/ML developers, satellite operators, and government/defense customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Orbital Computing Platform

NAICS

Satellite Telecommunications (517410), Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing (336414)

SIC

Guided Missiles & Space Vehicles & Parts (3760)

akta.pro primary industry

Satellite Network Operations & Capacity Services (NOC, Capacity Leasing, Managed Payload Services) (HDAIAJAI)

Keywords

• Shared satellite platform
• Hosted payload services
• In-orbit computing
• Space edge compute
• Satellite ridesharing

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Hosted Payload Services (Hardware): DPhi Space generates revenue by hosting third-party hardware payloads on its shared Clustergate satellite platform. Customers aggregate payloads on a shared bus rather than purchasing dedicated satellite missions, reducing cost and complexity. Revenue is earned per mission based on payload hosting contracts.
2. Software Deployment in Space (Compute-as-a-Service): Revenue from deploying and running software workloads on the orbital compute platform. Customers pay based on usage of CPU hours, GPU hours, FPGA hours, data upload/download, and persistent storage. Tiered pricing structure with minimum commitment requirements ranging from Tier 0 (no minimum) to Tier 4 (custom). Additional revenue from sensor services (on-demand camera imagery, RPO sensor kit data).
3. Partnership with Momentus (Future Revenue Sharing): Momentus signed a revenue-sharing agreement with DPhi Space to fly edge computing payloads on future missions, creating a recurring revenue stream tied to mission outcomes on the Vigoride platform.
4. Ground Support Services: Engineering model days and engineering hours for customer onboarding, integration testing, and mission support. Billed per day and per hour at tiered rates. Engineering model days range from 500 CHF (1 day) to 1,500 CHF (14 days); engineering hours from 210–300 CHF/hr depending on tier.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

DPhi Space provides a shared satellite platform called Clustergate that aggregates multiple hosted payloads on a single satellite bus and connects them to powerful onboard computers. Customers can host hardware payloads such as sensors, mechanisms, and solar array components, or deploy software workloads (containerized applications and AI models) through a cloud-like Docker environment, accessing in-orbit compute without building or launching their own satellite.

Product overview

DPhi Space operates a platform-plus-services architecture built around its Clustergate hosted payload platform. The core offering aggregates multiple hardware and software payloads on shared satellites, connecting them to powerful onboard computers for in-orbit computing. Clustergate-2 is the current operational compute platform launched in March 2026, featuring NVIDIA GPUs and supporting containerized applications. The company offers two service lines: hardware payload hosting (sensors on shared platforms) and software payload hosting (deploying code in space via cloud-like environment). The upcoming OmniSat (targeting 2027 launch) will be a production-class satellite with enhanced compute capabilities. The platform addresses the data bottleneck in space by moving compute directly next to sensors, enabling AI processing, real-time analytics, and LLM inference at the edge without ground transmission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clustergate: A hosted payload container that aggregates smaller payloads and connects them to powerful onboard computers, offering cost-efficient access to space.
• OmniSat

Products and services

• Clustergate Hosted Payload Platform A shared satellite platform that aggregates multiple third-party payloads in a standardized container on a single bus and connects them to powerful onboard computers, enabling in-orbit compute, AI processing, and real-time data analytics for satellite operators, hardware payload developers, AI/ML companies, and government customers.
• Clustergate-2 On-Orbit Compute Platform Programmable compute platform for satellites offering a cloud-like experience in orbit, with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX GPU, Arm Cortex-A53 CPU, Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGA, terabytes of storage, gigabit networking, and over 100 pre-loaded Docker images for code-agnostic deployment. Used by developers and AI/ML teams to run AI inference, computer vision, and data analytics workloads directly in space.
• Hardware Payload Hosting Service Service that lets customers host sensors, mechanisms, communications payloads, and other custom hardware (e.g., solar array drives, cameras, LiDAR, infrared sensors) on DPhi Space's shared Clustergate platform in lieu of procuring a dedicated satellite mission.
• Software Payload Hosting Service Cloud-like, containerized Linux environment that lets developers write code and deploy containerized applications (including AI/ML models) directly on the satellite, with automatic scheduling, persistent storage, and a dashboard for accessing in-orbit insights.
• Onboard Sensor Suite Space-grade sensor offering on Clustergate-2 comprising a 12MP fisheye camera (186-degree FOV), LiDAR sensor for point cloud measurement, infrared camera for heat signature detection, and satellite telemetry (position, attitude, delta-v), with on-demand image capture, historical API access, and full RPO sensor kit data available.

Quantifiable outcome

• First public demonstration of in-space AI inference using a large language model (Liquid AI's LFM2-3b) processed onboard a satellite without ground transmission
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Liquid AIcoreTechnology or Integration · 29 April 2026Liquid AI partnered with DPhi Space to deploy its large language model (LFM2-3b) on Clustergate-2 for the first public demonstration of in-space AI inference. The vision-language model analyzed an Earth observation image directly in orbit without ground transmission. Liquid AI and DPhi also co-organized a hackathon to explore vision-language model applications on orbital compute infrastructure.
• TileboxcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 February 2026Tilebox contracted DPhi Space to demonstrate ground-to-orbit software continuity on Clustergate-2, executing GPU-accelerated data compression workflows from The Compression Company on DPhi's hosted flight computer infrastructure. This was a commercial mission validating software deployment continuity from ground to orbit.
• MomentuscoreTechnology or Integration · 30 October 2025Momentus signed a partnership contract with DPhi Space to fly edge computing payloads on its Vigoride 7 orbital service vehicle (SpaceX Transporter-16 mission, March 2026). The partnership includes future revenue sharing arrangements. Momentus provides the satellite bus, launch infrastructure, and sensors while DPhi Space provides its Clustergate hosted payload compute platform.
• Revolv SpacecoreTechnology or Integration · 20 November 2024Revolv Space integrated its SARA (Solar Array Drive Assembly) onto DPhi Space's Clustergate-1 hosted payload platform for an in-orbit demonstration mission. The partnership enabled Revolv Space to get flight heritage for its autonomous, fail-safe solar array technology for small satellites in under four months from contract signature. DPhi Space CEO called it 'a great example of how Clustergate helps flight prove novel developments and make them ready to be commercialized.'
• D-OrbitcoreTechnology or Integration · 9 February 2024DPhi Space signed a launch agreement with D-Orbit to host Clustergate-1 on D-Orbit's ION Satellite Carrier. The ION platform provides the satellite bus for Clustergate-1, which launched in March 2025. This was the second collaboration between the teams, following a previous hosted payload launch on ION SCV 009 before DPhi Space's formal founding. D-Orbit has fourteen successful consecutive ION launches.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Exolaunch: Exolaunch provides launch services and payload integration for small satellites including rideshare and hosted payload arrangements. Comparable as a service provider in the smallsat ecosystem, though focused on launch integration rather than in-orbit compute.

Direct peers

• KP Labs: KP Labs builds onboard AI processing units and software for satellites, including computer vision applications for Earth observation. Comparable to DPhi's heterogeneous compute architecture and AI inference capabilities, with overlapping customer base in EO and defense sectors.
• Loft Orbital: Loft Orbital operates a satellite-as-a-service model that hosts customer payloads on shared satellite buses, similar to DPhi's Clustergate. Directly comparable business model aggregating multiple customers onto shared infrastructure, though Loft Orbital owns its satellite buses whereas DPhi currently relies on partners.
• Ubotica Technologies: Ubotica Technologies provides AI processing directly onboard satellites in LEO, including computer vision applications. Directly comparable to DPhi Space's Clustergate-2 platform for in-orbit AI inference, with similar target customer base of EO operators and developers seeking edge compute in space.
• D-Orbit: D-Orbit's ION Satellite Carrier provides orbital transfer and hosted payload services, hosting DPhi's Clustergate-1. Comparable as a peer and partner offering shared satellite bus services for payload aggregation, with fourteen successful consecutive launches.
• Momentus: Momentus provides in-orbit transportation and hosted payload services via its Vigoride platform, which currently hosts DPhi's Clustergate-2. Both a partner and comparable competitor offering orbital services infrastructure to government and commercial customers.
• Ramon.Space: Ramon.Space develops space-grade compute hardware (processors, AI accelerators) for satellites. Comparable to DPhi's onboard compute stack (CPU/GPU/FPGA), addressing the same market of providing high-performance computing infrastructure for in-orbit applications.
• OrbitsEdge: OrbitsEdge provides edge data center computing infrastructure for satellites, enabling in-orbit processing. Closely comparable to DPhi Space's Clustergate-2 in addressing the orbital compute market with similar value proposition of processing data at the edge rather than downlinking to ground.

Broad incumbents

• Axiom Space: Axiom Space is a broader space infrastructure company building commercial space stations and related orbital infrastructure. Comparable as a space infrastructure provider with overlapping ambitions in commercial orbital services, though at much larger scale and with different near-term focus.

Emerging players

• Satellogic: Satellogic operates an Earth observation constellation with some on-board processing capabilities. Partially comparable as a satellite operator exploring edge compute, though primarily focused on EO data delivery rather than hosting third-party compute workloads like DPhi's Clustergate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DPhiSpace
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dphi-space

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DPhi Space